Department News - UMD Physicshttps://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news.html
Sun, 18 Feb 2018 01:50:08 -0500Joomla! - Open Source Content Managementen-uswebmaster@physics.umd.edu (Department of Physics - University of Maryland)Assistant Professor Maissam Barkeshli Receives 2018 Sloan Research Fellowshiphttps://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news/1343-assistant-professor-maissam-barkeshli-receives-2018-sloan-research-fellowship.html
https://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news/1343-assistant-professor-maissam-barkeshli-receives-2018-sloan-research-fellowship.htmlMaissam Barkeshli, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Maryland and fellow of the Joint Quantum Institute, has been awarded a 2018 Sloan Research Fellowship. Granted by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, this award identifies 126 early-career scientists based on their potential to contribute fundamentally significant research to a wider academic community.

Barkeshli, a theoretical condensed matter physicist interested in complex quantum many-body phenomena, will use the fellowship to further his research into the collective behavior that emerges in systems of strongly interacting particles governed by the laws of quantum mechanics.

“I am honored to receive this prestigious fellowship,” said Barkeshli. “It represents an affirmation of my work by distinguished members of the physics community, and it encourages me to continue my efforts in understanding the complexities of quantum matter.”

Barkeshli’s research mixes physics with mathematics and draws motivation from the ongoing pursuit to build next-generation computing devices ruled by quantum physics. Beyond the applications, his research explores the many ways that atoms and electrons—prototypical quantum particles—can combine in large numbers to produce a range of novel behaviors.

For example, interesting things seem to happen at the interface between two different quantum materials. In 2014, Barkeshli and several colleagues showed that, at least theoretically, electrons can lose their electric charge or shed a quantum property called spin when they hop between two quantum materials. With the Sloan Research Fellowship, Barkeshli hopes to continue studying the novel ways that electrons and other, more exotic particles behave at these interfaces. This research could uncover new ways of building quantum computers that are virtually immune to noise, and has led to experimental proposals that could soon be tested in the lab.

Barkeshli has authored more than 35 peer-reviewed journal articles. Before joining the UMD faculty in 2016, Barkeshli worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Microsoft Research’s Station Q (2013-2016) and at Stanford University (2010-2013). He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics and a second bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2004. He received his doctoral degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2010.

Barkeshli joins the list of 39 current UMD College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences faculty members who have received Sloan Research Fellowships.

The two-year $65,000 Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded to U.S. and Canadian researchers in the fields of chemistry, computer science, economics, mathematics, computational and evolutionary molecular biology, neuroscience, ocean sciences, and physics. Candidates must be nominated by their fellow scientists and winning fellows are selected by independent panels of senior scholars on the basis of each candidate’s independent research accomplishments, creativity and potential to become a leader in his or her field.

“The Sloan Research Fellows represent the very best science has to offer,” said Adam Falk, president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. “The brightest minds, tackling the hardest problems, and succeeding brilliantly—Fellows are quite literally the future of twenty-first century science.”

Media Relations Contact: Abby Robinson, 301-405- 5845, abbyr@umd.eduWriters: Abby Robinson and Chris CesareUniversity of MarylandCollege of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences2300 Symons HallCollege Park, MD 20742www.cmns.umd.edu@UMDscienceAbout the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland educates more than 9,000 future scientific leaders in its undergraduate and graduate programs each year. The college’s 10 departments and more than a dozen interdisciplinary researchcenters foster scientific discovery with annual sponsored research funding exceeding $175 million.

]]>koaks@umd.edu (Kate Sickles)NewsThu, 15 Feb 2018 18:10:50 -0500Physics Senior Christopher Bambic Wins 2018 Churchill Scholarshiphttps://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news/1339-physics-senior-wins-2018-churchill-scholarship.html
https://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news/1339-physics-senior-wins-2018-churchill-scholarship.htmlTwo seniors in the University of Maryland’s College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) have been awarded 2018 Winston Churchill Scholarships, which offer full funding to pursue one-year master’s degrees at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.]]>koaks@umd.edu (Kate Sickles)NewsTue, 13 Feb 2018 15:52:29 -0500Matched at Maryland: Meet Alumni Barrett and Marilyn Ripinhttps://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news/1342-matched-at-maryland-meet-alumni-barrett-and-marilyn-ripin.html
https://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news/1342-matched-at-maryland-meet-alumni-barrett-and-marilyn-ripin.htmlThe couple, who married in 1966, provide need-based scholarships for undergraduates in the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences who are preparing to be K-12 science or math teachers]]>koaks@umd.edu (Kate Sickles)NewsTue, 16 Jan 2018 20:43:05 -0500Meet the College's Longest-Married Alumni Couplehttps://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news/1341-meet-the-college-s-longest-married-alumni-couple.html
https://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news/1341-meet-the-college-s-longest-married-alumni-couple.htmlJames Baker (B.S. ’49, physics) met his wife Dorothy (B.S. ’51, physics) in his first physics laboratory course at the University of Maryland.

“I remember she was doing the Millikan oil-drop experiment,” James said. “I don’t even remember what mine was. I was so stricken with her.”

]]>koaks@umd.edu (Kate Sickles)NewsTue, 16 Jan 2018 17:03:55 -0500Amitabh Varshney Named Dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at UMDhttps://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news/1333-amitabh-varshney-named-dean-of-the-college-of-computer-mathematical-and-natural-sciences-at-umd.html
https://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news/1333-amitabh-varshney-named-dean-of-the-college-of-computer-mathematical-and-natural-sciences-at-umd.htmlComputer scientist Amitabh Varshney has been named dean of the University of Maryland’s College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS), effective March 1, 2018. Varshney is a professor of computer science at UMD and director of the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS). He recently completed a one-year term as the university’s interim vice president for research.]]>koaks@umd.edu (Kate Sickles)NewsWed, 24 Jan 2018 17:46:51 -0500Four College Faculty Members Named 2017 Highly Cited Researchershttps://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news/1332-four-college-faculty-members-named-2017-highly-cited-researchers.html
https://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news/1332-four-college-faculty-members-named-2017-highly-cited-researchers.htmlPublished works by Sankar Das Sarma, Ian Spielman, Jacob Taylor and Dennis vanEngelsdorp have consistently been judged by their peers to be of particular use and significanceFour faculty members in the University of Maryland’s College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences are included on Clarivate Analytics’ 2017 list of Highly Cited Researchers, a compilation of influential names in science.]]>koaks@umd.edu (Kate Sickles)NewsTue, 16 Jan 2018 15:43:59 -0500John W. Layman, 1933 - 2017https://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news/1331-john-w-layman-1933-2017.html
https://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news/1331-john-w-layman-1933-2017.htmlNoted physics educator John W. Layman, who held a joint appointment in Physics and the Department of Education until his retirement in 1998, died on December 30, 2017. He was 84.

Prof. Layman, an Illinois native, received an undergraduate degree from Park College in Missouri in 1955 and then taught science in Kansas City public schools. In 1961, he moved to Philadelphia to earn a master’s degree in education from Temple University. He resumed his high school teaching career in Missouri until entering Oklahoma State University, where he received his doctorate in education in 1970 and quickly accepted his appointment at UMD.

Prof. Layman used his background in education to raise the consciousness of UMD Physics faculty in the issues of teaching and learning. He introduced (and ran) training for teaching assistants and developed new lecture demonstration materials. He developed and taught a course for prospective elementary school teachers using laboratory-based and inquiry-based methods to study some of the basic ideas of the physical sciences. His impact on the educational outlook of the physics faculty was perhaps as profound as his impact on his own students.

Prof. Layman was known for his enthusiasm in the classroom, infusing classes such as the Physics of Light with highly-entertaining demonstrations and descriptions of rainbows, prisms and holograms. Along with colleagues in the UMD Physics Education Research Group, he was an early adapter and researcher of the role of computers in the realm of science teaching.

In 1982, he served as President of the American Association of Physics Teachers; a few years later, he was instrumental in persuading the organization to relocate to College Park from Stony Brook, NY. This move eventually prompted the centralization of physics societies here. He was pivotal in founding the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC), an AAPT-American Physical Society (APS) partnership, and in developing the Powerful Ideas in Physical Science curriculum to train elementary school teachers. In 1998, the AAPT recognized his numerous contributions with the Melba Newell Phillips Award.

In the 2015 AAPT summer conference hosted at UMD, the group honored Prof. Layman with a plaque recognizing "his many years of dedication and service to AAPT as Secretary, President, Archivist, and numerous other roles."

Dr. Layman was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the APS, which cited him in 2003 “…for his contributions to physics education and for his national leadership in the training of physics teachers.” He was named a Distinguished Alumnus by his undergraduate alma mater in 2005.

]]>koaks@umd.edu (Kate Sickles)NewsThu, 04 Jan 2018 18:48:05 -0500Professor Alessandra Buonanno Awarded the Leibniz Prize https://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news/1328-professor-alessandra-leibniz-prize-for-alessandra-buonanno.html
https://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news/1328-professor-alessandra-leibniz-prize-for-alessandra-buonanno.htmlThe DFG announced today that Professor Alessandra Buonanno will be honoured with the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz prize for her key role in the first direct observations of gravitational waves. This long-awaited discovery is a historic scientific milestone, and was awarded this year’s Nobel prize in Physics. Alessandra Buonanno is one of the scientists who made the detection possible.]]>koaks@umd.edu (Kate Sickles)NewsTue, 19 Dec 2017 17:46:15 -0500UMD Associated Research Included in Physics World Top Ten Breakthroughs of 2017https://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news/1327-professor-chris-monroe-s-work-included-in-physics-world-top-ten-breakthroughs-of-2017.html
https://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news/1327-professor-chris-monroe-s-work-included-in-physics-world-top-ten-breakthroughs-of-2017.htmlLaser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) tops the charts for the 2017 Breakthrough of the Year with Physics World with the first multimessenger observation of a neutron-star merger. UMD Professors Alessandra Buonanno and Peter Shawhan are both collaborators with LIGO and have contributed to the detection of the fourth gravitational wave.

Professor Chris Monroe and his colleagues have also been included in the Physics World Top Ten Breakthroughs of 2017 for their research on time crystals. The study of time crystals was first envisioned five years ago when Nobel Laureate Frank Wilczek proposed the idea. Chris Monroe has one of the leading experiments. His group uses trapped ions to create time crystals in their lab. Physics World also recognizes Mikhail Lukin and his collaborators at Harvard University who have been simultaneously working with time crystals using diamond defects.

]]>koaks@umd.edu (Kate Sickles)NewsThu, 14 Dec 2017 14:17:36 -0500Physics and Astronomy Alumnus Charles Bennett Receives 2018 Breakthrough Prizehttps://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news/1326-physics-and-astronomy-alumnus-received-2018-breakthrough-prize.html
https://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news/1326-physics-and-astronomy-alumnus-received-2018-breakthrough-prize.htmlAlumnus Charles L. Bennett (B.S. Physics and Astronomy, 1978) has received the 2018 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics “for detailed maps of the early universe that greatly improved our knowledge of the evolution of the cosmos and the fluctuations that seeded the formation of galaxies.” Bennett, the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University, led the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) mission. Members of the WMAP team will share the $3 million prize for their measurements and insights into the young universe.

Prof. Bennett also received the 2017 Institute of Physics (IOP) Isaac Newton Medal and Prize, the Caterina Tomassoni and Felice Pietro Chisesi Prize, the Gruber Cosmology Prize, the Shaw Prize in Astronomy and the National Academy of Sciences’ Draper Medal and Comstock Prize in Physics. He was the Department of Physics Alumnus of the Year in 2003.